Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnosis support apparatus which can collectively perform radiographic interpretation of a plurality of cases while comparing them with each other, a method for the same, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
In the medical field, doctors perform the imaging diagnosis of performing diagnosis by interpreting the medical images obtained by imaging apparatuses such as an X-ray CT (Computerized Tomography) apparatus and an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus. When performing imaging diagnosis, a doctor specifies the symptom of a lesion depicted in an image by comprehensively determining the findings (to be referred to as “image findings” hereinafter) obtained from the image and various kinds of measurement values in accordance with an interpretation request from a primary doctor. The doctor then compiles the process of reaching the diagnosis into an interpretation report to the primary doctor as the request source by using image findings and measurement values.
On the other hand, recently, an attempt has been made to reduce load on a doctor at the time of interpretation report creation by selecting findings and the like in a template form. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-271620 discloses a technique of selecting finding elements, phrases, and the like and creating natural sentences. International Publication No. 2005/122002 discloses a technique of analyzing image findings input by a doctor by speech and creating a structured report by using a template and past structured reports.
In general, when performing radiographic interpretation, a doctor creates an interpretation report by performing radiographic interpretation for each case. However, performing radiographic interpretation for each case will produce differences even in similar cases. In such a case, the doctor can perform radiographic interpretation with less differences between cases by collectively performing radiographic interpretation of a plurality of cases while comparing them with each other for each image finding of interest. However, a conventional report creation support apparatus like that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-271620 is designed to only perform radiographic interpretation for each case but cannot collectively perform radiographic interpretation of a plurality of cases while comparing them with each other.